- Mark Cuban says he would take over Fox News and X, formerly Twitter, if he could.
- But purchasing both media properties remains a distant possibility for the "Shark Tank" star.
- He told Wired's Lauren Goode that Fox News was too expensive and Elon Musk was unlikely to sell X.
The "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban says he would buy Fox News and X if he could.
Cuban expressed his interest in acquiring both media properties during a wide-ranging interview with Wired's Lauren Goode that was published Thursday.
"If I had enough money to do it, which I don't, I'd buy it in a heartbeat," Cuban said of Fox News.
Buying Fox News, Cuban said earlier in his interview, would serve as an antidote to a demographic he calls the "Fox News generation."
Cuban coined the term in past interviews when he expressed disappointment in his generation, the baby boomers.
"I mean, my generation was sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. I never thought they would be the Fox News generation," Cuban told The New York Times' David Marchese in an interview published in August 2020.
"People I knew were smoking pot, listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and protest songs," he continued. "The idea that those are the people condemning Black Lives Matters and watching Fox News in droves. It's so upsetting to me. You have no idea."
But Cuban said Fox News would be far too expensive an investment, should it even come on the market; he estimated a net acquisition price of about $15 billion to $20 billion.
"I don't have $15 or $20 billion in cash sitting around," Cuban told Goode.
Getting X is also a distant possibility for Cuban, who told Goode that he didn't think the platform's owner, Elon Musk, was keen on selling.
"I wish I could," Cuban said. "There's no reason for him to sell it."
Cuban, who is a frequent user of X, has often slammed the changes Musk has made to the platform. Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 before renaming it to X in July of last year.
Cuban's criticisms have earned Musk's ire, with Musk hurling insults at Cuban for his criticisms.
But that hasn't driven off Cuban, who told Business Insider in June that he found it "fun sparring with Elon."
"He who controls the algorithm controls the platform — controls that world, that community," Cuban told Goode. "And Elon has built, X has built, a very strong right-leaning community. They're fun to fuck with."
Representatives for Fox News, X, and Cuban didn't immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.